Socrative – a neat tool for student feedback

I recently learned about the tool Socrative, and have started using it in my math classes as a closure activity (something quick at the end of class for students to summarize the lesson and give me quick feedback). I’ll give a quick pros and cons rundown from my perspective.

Pros:

Low overhead for me and students: easy to set up and use

Does all the data work for me

Flexible – I use as an exit ticket, but you can use it for quizzes or surveys

My students are already familiar with it

Cons:

My students don’t like it — perhaps due to how it is used in other classes?

Possible information overload

Students don’t always take it seriously unless it will be graded

Requires everyone to get their computer or phone out, which I usually discourage

I’ll keep using it in Math 9 for a while to see whether I continue to keep liking it. Here’s a screenshot of the Excel file it creates (names removed, click to enlarge):